Find Your Home!

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Buying a Home in Florida: Keys To a Successful Closing

The home buying process is not really complex in Brevard County, Florida. However, it best accomplished as an orderly process.

So what is the key to a successful closing? Pay attention to the calendar... It is all about timing.

Time is of the essence. The typical home purchase process in Florida takes at least forty five days from contract to closing - if all goes according to plan.

The clock starts ticking on the effective date of the offer. That is when the last person signs the last change or counteroffer.

The standard Florida Realtors real estate contracts used by most real estate agents in Florida has close on or before date.

This date is critical.

Without
extensions agreed to by both the buyer and seller a failure to close by this date may
mean the deal is off. This is especially critical for buyers in a market such as ours where the
inventory is tight and the buyers are competing.

So once the clock starts ticking then there is no time to waste.

This particular blog post is written from the buyers perspective as a seller really has little to do other than make the property accessible for inspections and prepare to move out before closing.

The buyer's real estate agent should take charge of the process. The seller's real estate agent will be in frequent contact with the buyer's agent to confirm the process is moving along. Remember, neither real estate agent gets paid unless the transaction closes.

Most purchase offers in our area of Florida are prepared with an inspection contingency. This first step is critical to decide if a buyer wants to go forward. Usually the offer provides a window of a week to ten days to have this done. Not only is there a property inspection but also a termite inspection.

Depending on the property there may may other inspections such as wind mitigation, four point inspection or even a septic system (rare in our area). During this inspection period buyers need to take the opportunity to review association rules and documents.

Assuming the inspections are satisfactory the buyer needs to make sure the mortgage process is moving forward. Loan originators will need a copy of the signed contract. There will an appraisal that needs to be done as well. All this takes time.

One of the last things to be done will be the property survey. If a current survey is available it may only be necessary to have the survey re-certified by the survey company.

Because each step of the home purchase process has an associated cost it key that the steps be done in a logical order to avoid spending money for a property that will never close. Your buyer;s agent will guide you along the process.

The home purchase process is not the same in each area (even within the same state). If you are considering buying a property in a new area or are inexperienced, ask your buyer's agent to summarize the process before you find your house.